Road and bridge construction CoTM 4202

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO HIGHWAY PAVEMENTS

General
Development of a country depends on the connectivity of various places with adequate
road network. Roads are the major channel of transportation for carrying goods and
passengers. They play a significant role in improving the socio-economic standards of a
region. Roads constitute the most important mode of communication in areas where
railways have not developed much and form the basic infrastructure for the development
and economic growth of the country. The benefits from the investment in road sector
are indirect, long-term and not immediately visible. Roads are important assets for any
nation. However, merely creating these assets is not enough, it has to be planned
carefully and a pavement which is not designed properly deteriorates fast. India is a large
country having huge resource of materials. If these local materials are used properly, the
cost of construction can be reduced. There are various type of pavements which differ in
their suitability in different environments. Each type of pavement has its own merits and
demerits. Despite a large number of seminars and conference, still in India, 98% roads
are having flexible pavements. A lot of research has been made on use of Waste materials
but the role of these materials is still limited. So there is need to take a holistic approach
and mark the areas where these are most suitable.

A highway pavement is a structure consisting of superimposed layers of processed

materials above the natural soil sub-grade, whose primary function is to distribute the
applied vehicle loads to the sub-grade. The pavement structure should be able to provide
a surface of acceptable riding quality, adequate skid resistance, favorable light reflecting
characteristics, and low noise pollution. The ultimate aim is to ensure that the transmitted
stresses due to wheel load are sufficiently reduced, so that they will not exceed bearing
capacity of the sub-grade. Two types of pavements are generally recognized as serving
this purpose, namely flexible pavements and rigid pavements. This chapter gives an
overview of pavement types, layers, and their functions, and pavement failures.
Improper design of pavements leads to early failure of pavements affecting the riding
quality.

Pavements form the basic supporting structure in highway transportation. Each layer of
pavement has a multitude of functions to perform which has to be duly considered
during the design process. Different types of pavements can be adopted depending upon
the traffic requirements. Improper design of pavements leads to early failure of
pavements affecting the riding quality also.

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A pavement structure is a layer structure which supports the vehicle load on its
surface and transfers and spreads the load to the subgrade without exceeding either
the strength of the subgrade or the internal strength of the pavement itself. The
basic idea in building a pavement for all -weather use by vehicles is to prepare a suitable
subgrade, provide necessary drainage, and construct a pavement that will:

 Have sufficient total thickness and internal strength to carry expected traffic loads,
and distribute them over the subgrade soil without overstressing;
 Have adequate properties to prevent or minimize the penetration or internal
accumulation of moisture;
 Have a surface that is reasonably smooth and skid resistant at the same time, as
well as reasonably resistant to wear, distortion and deterioration by vehicle loads
and weather.
The pavements can be classified based on the structural performance into two, flexible
pavements and rigid pavements. In flexible pavements, wheel loads are transferred by
grain-to-grain contact of the aggregate through the granular structure. The flexible
pavement, having less flexural strength, acts like a flexible sheet (e.g. bituminous road).
On the contrary, in rigid pavements, wheel loads are transferred to sub-grade soil by
flexural strength of the pavement and the pavement acts like a rigid plate (e.g. cement
concrete roads). In addition to these, composite pavements are also available. A thin
layer of flexible pavement over rigid pavement is an ideal pavement with most desirable
characteristics. However, such pavements are rarely used in new construction because of
high cost and complex analysis required.

Requirements of a pavement
An ideal pavement should meet the following requirements:
 Sufficient thickness to distribute the wheel load stresses to a safe value on the sub-
grade soil,
 Structurally strong to withstand all types of stresses imposed upon it,
 Adequate coefficient of friction to prevent skidding of vehicles,
 Smooth surface to provide comfort to road users even at high speed,
 Produce least noise from moving vehicles,
 Dust proof surface so that traffic safety is not impaired by reducing visibility,
 Impervious surface, so that sub-grade soil is well protected, and
 Long design life with low maintenance cost.

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Types of Pavements
The pavements can be classified based on the structural performance into two,

1. Flexible pavements and

2. Rigid pavements

In flexible pavements, wheel loads are transferred by grain-to-grain contact of the

aggregate through the granular structure. The flexible pavement, having less flexural
strength, acts like a flexible sheet (e.g. bituminous road).

On the contrary, in rigid pavements, wheel loads are transferred to sub-grade soil by
flexural strength of the pavement and the pavement acts like a rigid plate (e.g. cement
concrete roads).

In addition to these, composite pavements are also available. A thin layer of flexible
pavement over rigid pavement is an ideal pavement with most desirable characteristics.
However, such pavements are rarely used in new construction because of high cost and
complex analysis required.

1. Flexible Pavements
Flexible pavement can be defined as the one consisting of a mixture of asphaltic or
bituminous material and aggregates placed on a bed of compacted granular material of
appropriate quality in layers over the subgrade. Water bound macadam roads and
stabilized soil roads with or without asphaltic toppings are examples of flexible
pavements.

A flexible pavement is one, which has low flexural strength, and the load is largely
transmitted to the subgrade soil through the lateral distribution of stresses with increasing
depth. The pavement thickness is designed such that the stresses on the subgrade soil are
kept within its bearing capacity and the subgrade is prevented from excessive
deformation. The strength and smoothness of flexible pavement structure depends to a
large extent on the deformation of the subgrade soil.

The design of flexible pavement is based on the principle that for a load of any
magnitude, the intensity of a load diminishes as the load is transmitted downwards from
the surface by virtue of spreading over an increasingly larger area, by carrying it deep
enough into the ground through successive layers of granular material.

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Flexible pavements will transmit wheel load stresses to the lower layers by grain-to-grain
transfer through the points of contact in the granular structure (see Figure shown below).

Figure 1.1: load transfer mechanism

The wheel load acting on the pavement will be distributed to a wider area, and the stress
decreases with the depth. Taking advantage of these stress distribution characteristic,
flexible pavements normally has many layers. Hence, the design of flexible pavement
uses the concept of layered system. A typical cross section of the flexible pavement is
shown below.

Figure 1.2: Typical cross sections of flexible pavement

Based on this, flexible pavement may be constructed in a number of layers and the top
layer has to be of best quality to sustain maximum compressive stress, in addition to
wear and tear.

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For flexible pavement, there can be grading in the quality of materials used, the materials
with high degree of strength is used at or near the surface. Thus the strength of subgrade
primarily influences the thickness of the flexible pavement.

The lower layers will experience lesser magnitude of stress and low quality material can
be used. Flexible pavements are constructed using bituminous materials. These can be
either in the form of surface treatments (such as bituminous surface treatments generally
found on low volume roads) or, asphalt concrete surface courses (generally used on high
volume roads such as national highways). Flexible pavement layers reflect the
deformation of the lower layers on to the surface layer (e.g. if there is any undulation in
sub-grade then it will be transferred to the surface layer). In the case of flexible
pavement, the design is based on overall performance of flexible pavement, and the
stresses produced should be kept well below the allowable stresses of each pavement
layer.

Bitumen has been widely used in the construction of flexible pavements for a long time.
This is the most convenient and simple type of construction. The cost of construction of
single lane bituminous pavement varies from 20 to 30 million per km in plain areas. In
some applications, however, the performance of conventional bitumen may not be
considered satisfactory because of the following reasons:

a. In summer season, due to high temperature, the bitumen becomes soft resulting in
bleeding, rutting and segregation finally leading to failure of pavement.
b. In winter season, due to low temperature, the bitumen becomes brittle resulting in
cracking, raveling and unevenness which makes the pavement unsuitable for use.
c. In rainy season, water enters the pavement resulting into pot holes and sometimes
total removal of bituminous layer.
d. In hilly areas, the freeze thaw and heave cycle takes place. Due to freezing and
melting of ice in bituminous voids, volume expansion and contraction occur. This
leads to pavements failure.
e. The cost of bitumen has been rising continuously. In near future, there will be
scarcity of bitumen and it will be impossible to procure bitumen at very high costs.
Recently, large number investigations have demonstrated that bitumen properties (e.g.
viscoelasticity and temperature susceptibility) can be improved using an additive or a
chemical reaction modification.

The use of polymer modified bitumen's (PMBs) to achieve better asphalt pavement
performance has been observed for a long time. The improved functional properties
include permanent deformation, fatigue and low temperature cracking. The properties of
PMVs are dependent on the polymer characteristics and content and bitumen nature, as

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well as the blending process. Despite the large number of polymeric products, there are
relatively few types which are suitable for bitumen modification. The polymers that are
used for bitumen modification can be divided onto two broad categories, namely
plastomers and elastomers. Elastomers have a characteristically high elastic response and,
therefore, resist permanent deformation by stretching and recovering their initial shape.

Plastomers from a tough, rigid, three dimensional networks to resist deformation. The
thermoplastic rubber, styrene butadiene-styrene (SBS), is an example of an elastomer and
the thermoplastic polymer, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), is an example of a plastomer.
One of the principal plastomers used in pavement applications is the semi-crystalline
copolymer, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). EVA polymers have been use in road
construction for more than 20 years in order to improve both the workability of the
asphalt during construction and its deformation resistance in service.

Types of Flexible Pavements

The following types of construction have been used in flexible pavement:

 Conventional layered flexible pavement,

 Full – depth asphalt pavement, and
 Contained rock asphalt mat (CRAM).

Conventional flexible pavements: are layered systems with high quality expensive
materials are placed in the top where stresses are high, and low quality cheap materials
are placed in lower layers.

Conventional flexible pavements are multilayered structures with better materials on top
where the intensity of stress is high and inferior materials at the bottom where the
intensity is low. This design principle makes possible to use local materials and usually
results in a most economical design. This is particularly true in regions where high-quality
materials are expensive but local materials of inferior quality are readily available.
Starting from the top, a conventional flexible pavement normally consists of surface
course, base course, sub-base course, compacted subgrade, and natural subgrade. The use
of the various courses is based on either necessity or economy and some of the courses
may be omitted.

Full – depth asphalt pavements: are constructed by placing bituminous layers directly on
the soil sub-grade. This concept was conceived by the Asphalt Institute and is
generally considered the most cost-effective and dependable type of asphalt
pavement for heavy traffic and quite popular in areas where local materials are not
available.

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Contained rock asphalt mats: are constructed by placing dense/open graded aggregate
layers in between two asphalt layers. Modified dense graded asphalt concrete is placed
above the sub-grade will significantly reduce the vertical compressive strain on soil sub-
grade and protect from surface water.

Typical layers of a flexible pavement

Typical layers of a conventional flexible pavement includes seal coat, surface course, tack
coat, binder course, prime coat, base course, sub-base course, compacted sub-grade, and
natural sub-grade.

Seal Coat: Seal coat is a thin surface treatment used to water-proof the surface and to
provide skid resistance.

Tack Coat: Tack coat is a very light application of asphalt, usually asphalt emulsion
diluted with water. It provides proper bonding between two layers of binder course and
must be thin, uniformly cover the entire surface, and set very fast.

Prime Coat: Prime coat is an application of low viscous cutback bitumen to an absorbent
surface like granular bases on which binder layer is placed. It provides bonding between
two layers. Unlike tack coat, prime coat penetrates into the layer below, plugs the voids,
and forms a water tight surface.

Figure 1.3: Typical cross section of a flexible pavement

Surface course: Surface course is the layer directly in contact with traffic loads and
generally contains superior quality materials or the surface course is the top course of an
asphalt pavement, sometimes called the wearing course. They are usually constructed
with dense graded asphalt concrete (AC). The functions and requirements of this layer
are:
 It provides characteristics such as friction, smoothness, drainage, etc. Also it will
prevent the entrance of excessive quantities of surface water into the underlying
base, sub-base and sub-grade,

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 It must be tough to resist the distortion under traffic and provide a smooth and
skid- resistant riding surface,
 It must be water proof to protect the entire base and sub-grade from the
weakening effect of water.

Binder course: This layer provides the bulk of the asphalt concrete structure. It's chief
purpose is to distribute load to the base course The binder course generally consists of
aggregates having less asphalt and doesn't require quality as high as the surface course, so
replacing a part of the surface course by the binder course results in more economical
design.

Base course: The base course is the layer of material immediately beneath the surface of
binder course and it provides additional load distribution and contributes to the sub-
surface drainage. It may be composed of crushed stone, crushed slag, and other untreated
or stabilized materials. It is the main structural part of the pavement and provides a level
surface for laying the surface layer. If constructed directly over the subgrade, it
prevents intrusions of the fine subgrade soils into the pavement structure.

Sub-Base course: The sub-base course is the layer of material beneath the base course and
the primary functions are to provide structural support, improve drainage, and reduce
the intrusion of fines from the sub-grade in the pavement structure. If the base course is
open graded, then the sub-base course with more fines can serve as a filler between sub-
grade and the base course. A sub-base course is not always needed or used. For
example, a pavement constructed over a high quality, stiff sub-grade may not need the
additional features offered by a sub-base course. In such situations, sub-base course may
not be provided.

Sub-grade: The top soil or sub-grade is a layer of natural soil prepared to receive the
stresses from the layers above or the foundation on which the vehicle load and the weight
of the pavement layers finally rest. It is graded into a proper shape, properly drained, and
compacted to receive the pavement layers. It is an in situ or a layer of selected material
compacted to the desirable density near the optimum moisture content.

Deflection on flexible pavement

The wheel load acting on the pavement will be distributed to a wider area, and the stress
decreases with the depth. Taking advantage of this stress distribution characteristic,
flexible pavement normally has many layers. Hence, the design of flexible pavement uses
the concept of layered system. Based on this, flexible pavement may be constructed in a
number of layers and the top layer has to be of best quality to sustain maximum

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compressive stress, in addition to wear and tear. The lower layers will experience lesser
magnitude of stress and low quality material can be used. Flexible pavements are
constructed using bituminous materials. These can be either in the form of surface
treatments (such as bituminous surface treatments generally found on low volume roads)
or, asphalt concrete surface courses (generally used on high volume roads such as
national highways). Flexible pavement layers reflect the deformation of the lower layers
on to the surface layer (e.g. if there is any undulation in sub-grade then it will be
transferred to the surface layer). In the case of flexible pavement, the design is based on
overall performance of flexible pavement, and the stresses produced should be kept well
below the allowable stresses of each pavement layer.

Figure 1.4: deflections on flexible pavement

Causes of Failure of Flexible Pavements

The major flexible pavement failures are fatigue cracking, rutting, and thermal cracking
(both low temperature cracking and high temperature cracking).

The fatigue cracking of flexible pavement is due to horizontal tensile strain at the bottom
of the asphaltic concrete. The failure criterion relates allowable number of load
repetitions to tensile strain and this relation can be determined in the laboratory fatigue
test on asphaltic concrete specimens.

Rutting occurs only on flexible pavements as indicated by permanent deformation or rut

depth along wheel load path. Two design methods have been used to control rutting:
one to limit the vertical compressive strain on the top of sub-grade and other to limit
rutting to a tolerable amount (12 mm normally).

Thermal cracking includes both low-temperature cracking and high temperature cracking
cracking.

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Semi Rigid Pavements

The pavements constructed using the waste materials, which are more strong traditional
aggregates, may be treated as Semi-Rigid Pavement. A lot of research work has been
done in this direction. But the work in terms of real construction is not visible.

2. Rigid Pavements
A rigid pavement is constructed from cement concrete or reinforced concrete slabs.
Grouted concrete roads are in the category of semi-rigid pavements.

The design of rigid pavement is based on providing a structural cement concrete slab of
sufficient strength to resists the loads from traffic. The rigid pavement has rigidity and
high modulus of elasticity to distribute the load over a relatively wide area of soil.

Rigid pavements have sufficient flexural strength to transmit the wheel load stresses to a
wider area below. A typical cross section of the rigid pavement is shown below.

Figure 1.5: typical cross sections of rigid pavement

Compared to flexible pavement, rigid pavements are placed either directly on the
prepared sub-grade or on a single layer of granular or stabilized material. Since there is
only one layer of material between the concrete and the sub-grade, this layer can be
called as base or sub-base course.

In rigid pavement, load is distributed by the slab action, and the pavement behaves like
an elastic plate resting on a viscous medium (see the figure below).

Figure 1.6: Elastic plate resting on viscous foundation

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Rigid pavements are constructed by Portland cement concrete (PCC) and should be
analyzed by plate theory instead of layer theory, assuming an elastic plate resting on
viscous foundation. Plate theory is a simplified version of layer theory that assumes the
concrete slab as a medium thick plate which is plane before loading and to remain plane
after loading. Bending of the slab occurs due to wheel load and temperature variation
and the resulting tensile and flexural stress.

Rigid pavements are pavement structures constructed of cement concrete slabs, which
derive their capacity to withstand vehicle loads from flexural strength or beam strength
due to high modulus of elasticity. Because of high flexural strength, the vehicle load on
cement concrete slab is distributed over a relatively wider area of the soil than flexible
pavements and thus, variation in the subgrade soil strength has little influence. The
flexural strength also permits the slab to bridge over minor irregularities under it. Thus,
the performance of rigid pavements is more governed by the strength of the concrete
slab that the subgrade supports. Hence, the major factor considered in the design of rigid
pavement is the structural strength of the concrete.

The subgrade may provide a uniform support for the slab. However, where the subgrade
soil cannot provide a uniform support, or for one or more of the following reasons
described here under, there is always a necessity to build a base course under cement
concrete slab and it is widely used for rigid pavements.

Control of pumping: Pumping is defined as the ejection of water and subgrade soil
through joints, cracks, and along the edges of the pavements caused by the downward
movements due to heavy axle loads. Pumping occurs when there is void space under the
slab due to temperature curling of the slab, deformation of the subgrade or both and
erodible material under the slab is saturated. It leads to faulting and cracking of
the slab if not corrected in time.

Control of frost action: Heave caused by the increase in volume of freeze water
and the formation and continuing expansion of ice lenses causes the concrete slab to
break and softens the subgrade during frost melts period. This occurs when the soil
within the depth of frost penetration is frost susceptible (e.g. clay), there is supply of
moisture, and the temperature freezes for a sufficient period of time.

Improvement of drainage: When the water table is high and close to the ground surface,
a base course can raise the pavement to a desirable elevation above the water
table. An open-graded base course provides an internal drainage system capable of
rapidly removing water that seeps through pavement cracks and joints carry it

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away to the roadside. A dense-graded or stabilized base course can also serve as a
waterproofing layer.

Control of shrinkage and swell. When the change in moisture causes subgrade to
shrink or swell, the base course can serve as a surcharge load to reduce the
amount of shrinkage and swell i n addition to its use of improving drainage.
Measures that are taken to reduce entering water into the subgrade further reduce the
shrinkage and swell potentials.

Expedition of Construction: A base course can be used as a working platform for heavy
construction equipment. Under severe weather conditions, a base course can keep
the surface clean and dry and facilitate the construction work.

Figure 1.7: Stress distribution through rigid pavement structure

Types of Rigid Pavements

Rigid pavements can be classified into four types:

 Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP),

 Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP),
 Continuous reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), and
 Pre-stressed concrete pavement (PCP).

Jointed Plain Concrete Pavements are plain cement concrete pavements constructed with
closely spaced contraction joints. Dowel bars or aggregate interlocks are normally used
for load transfer across joints. They normally have a joint spacing of 5 to 10m.

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Figure 1.8: Jointed plain concrete pavement

Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavement: Although reinforcements do not improve the

structural capacity significantly, they can drastically increase the joint spacing to 10 to
30m. Dowel bars are required for load transfer. Reinforcement help to keep the slab
together even after cracks.

Figure 1.9: Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavement

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Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavement: Complete elimination of joints are achieved

by reinforcement.

Figure 1.10: Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavement

Pre-stressed concrete pavements (PCP): have less probability of cracking and fewer
transverse joints and therefore result in less maintenance and longer pavement life. Pre
stressed concrete has been used more frequently for airport pavements than for highway
pavements because the saving in thickness for airport pavements is much greater than
that for highway pavements.

Merits of rigid pavement over flexible pavement

Rigid pavements, though costly in initial investment, are cheap in long run because of
low maintenance costs. There are various merits in the use of rigid pavements (Concrete
pavements) are summarized below:

A. Bitumen is derived from petroleum crude, which is in short supply globally and the
price of which has been rising steeply. India imports nearly 70% of the petroleum
crude. The demand for bitumen in the coming years is likely to grow steeply, far
outstripping the availability. Hence it will be in India's interest to explore alternative
binders. Cement is available in sufficient quantity in India, and its availability in the
future is also assured. Thus cement concrete roads should be the obvious choice in
future road programs.
B. Besides the easy available of cement, concrete roads have a long life and are
practically maintenance-free.

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C. Another major advantage of concrete roads is the savings in fuel by commercial

vehicles to an extent of 14-20%. The fuel savings themselves can support a large
program of concreting.
D. Cement concrete roads save a substantial quantity of stone aggregates and this factor
must be considered when a choice pavements is made,
E. Concrete roads can withstand extreme weather conditions – wide ranging
temperatures, heavy rainfall and water logging.
F. Though cement concrete roads may cost slightly more than a flexible pavement
initially, they are economical when whole-life-costing is considered.
G. Reduction in the cost of concrete pavements can be brought about by developing
semi-self-compacting concrete techniques and the use of closely spaced thin joints.
R&D efforts should be initiated in this area.

Composite pavements
Composite pavements are pavements composed of cement concrete as a bottom layer
and hot-mix asphalt as a top layer to obtain an ideal pavement with the most
desirable characteristics. The cement concrete slab provides a strong base and the hot-
mix asphalt provides a smooth and non-reflective surface. However, this type of
pavement is very expensive and is rarely used as a new construction. Composite
pavements include rehabilitated concrete pavements using asphalt overlays, and
asphalt pavements with stabilized bases. For flexible pavements with untreated bases,
the most critical tensile stress or strain is located at the bottom of asphalt layer, while for
composite pavements the most critical location is at the bottom of the cement concrete
slab or stabilized bases. A disadvantage of this construction is the occurrence of
reflection crack s on the asphalt surface due to the joints and cracks in the rigid base
layer.

Pavement type selection

Pavement type selection is a process used by a pavement authority to identify
the most beneficial type of pavement structure for a given set of traffic, soils, climate,
and other factors. It is sometimes as simple as specifying a certain type of pavement on
the basis of traffic level, or it may be as complicated as assigning weighting factors to
more than a dozen characteristics and evaluating the outcome through a scoring system.
Whatever process is used, it should be a rational and explainable methodology in which
the effects of different variables on decision making may be determined. Information
used to develop the process should reflect documented historical performance and cost
records.

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In general, there are no greater investments made by a transportation agency

than the construction or reconstruction of pavements. The financial and highway user
impacts are great and far-reaching. Pavement type selection deserves analysis
commensurate with such investment. Pavement selection involves many factors, as you
will learn from this synthesis. One thought, however, must always take precedence: that
is, pavements are intended to serve highway users. To the extent that the pavement
selection serves users, by ensuring that they travel on pavements that are safe,
smooth, quiet, durable, economical, and constructed of sustainable materials.

Pavement type selection processes are universally utilized by state departments of

transportation and other agencies responsible for roadway construction to identify and
select the most durable, cost-effective, highest performing pavement structure for a new
roadway. These processes are intended to be free of bias and provide an analytical
review of environmental and performance factors such as soil type, climate, traffic
volume, life cycle, constructability, and cost. All these factors are weighted in a
uniform, repeatable process with the singular goal of selecting the best pavement
type at the greatest overall value to the taxpayer and with a service life which
provides the maximum return on the public’s investment.

In addition to technical and performance factors, roadway owners have been

confronted with the need to consider secondary qualitative factors while selecting
a pavement material type. These factors include consideration of such issues

Among these are low initial cost, low maintenance costs, flexibility and speed of
construction, the ability to handle heavy loads, a long life, and complete recyclability.
Furthermore, asphalt pavements allow an opportunity to reduce traffic noise at
the source and improve ride quality. Asphalt pavements should be considered in
every pavement type decision. A check list is enclosed as a handy reference when
considering the pavement type to be selected.

Concrete pavement has long been considered an environmentally and economically

sustainable pavement choice for its longevity. This shall mark of concrete pavements
ensures that the desirable performance characteristics of the pavement remain
essentially intact for several decades.

In addition, long-lasting concrete pavements do not require rehabilitation or

reconstruction as often and, therefore, consume fewer raw materials over time. Energy
savings also are realized, since rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts consume energy.
Even more importantly, congestion is reduced by using long-lasting concrete pavements
because of less frequent construction zones that impede traffic flow. Ultimately, all of
these benefits add up to greater long-term economic and social benefits to the public.

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Comparison of Rigid and Flexible Pavements

The following main differences between rigid and flexible pavements can be cited:
 Design precision,
 Design life,
 Maintenance requirements,
 Initial cost,
 Suitability for stage construction,
 Surface characteristics,
 Permeability, and
 Traffic dislocation during construction

Table 1.1: the difference between the two pavement types

Sl. No. Flexible Pavement Rigid Pavement

It consists of a series of layers with the

It consists of one layer Portland cement concrete
1. highest quality materials at or near the
slab or relatively high flexural strength.
surface of pavement.

It reflects the deformations of subgrade and It is able to bridge over localized failures and
2.
subsequent layers on the surface. area of inadequate support.

Its stability depends upon the aggregate Its structural strength is provided by the
3.
interlock, particle friction and cohesion. pavement slab itself by its beam action.

Pavement design is greatly influenced by the Flexural strength of concrete is a major factor for
4.
subgrade strength. design.

It distributes load over a wide area of subgrade

It functions by a way of load distribution
5. because of its rigidity and high modulus of
through the component layers
elasticity.

Temperature variations due to change in

Temperature changes induce heavy stresses in
6. atmospheric conditions do not produce
rigid pavements.
stresses in flexible pavements.

Flexible pavements have self-healing Any excessive deformations occurring due to

7. properties due to heavier wheel loads are heavier wheel loads are not recoverable, i.e.
recoverable due to some extent. settlements are permanent.

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